A New Dawn

The sunlight into the room put this special day into a whole new perspective for Aiden Lockhart. Today, was the last day he would be at college, within the next two weeks he would go home and take over his rightful position as Alpha for the New Dawn pack. Today was the day of his college graduation and he was ready to get the ceremonies over with. Aiden continued to check out his reflection in the mirror, and couldn’t help but groan in annoyance at how his hair wasn’t cooperating. His brown hair was cut short, and he kept attempting to adjust the spikes to look right, but they were not cooperating. Finally, they stayed as they should have, which allowed him to move on to his clothing. He buttoned up his white dress shirt and tied the navy blue tie he had picked out for this occasion.

It’s going to be a fun night tonight!

Aiden thought to himself as he admired the way the white shirt clung to his muscled arms. He grabbed the black bag that he had previously hung on his closet door at the beginning of the week, unzipped it, and removed his navy blue graduation gown. Aiden smiled a wide smile as he wrapped the gown around his body and zipped it up. He couldn’t believe today was the day that marked the end of four years of hard work.

He stared at his reflection in the mirror, and couldn’t help but smirk at the fact that he looked good. The color of the gown brought out the blue in his blue-green eyes and the length of the gown enhanced the fact that he was over 6 feet tall. He knew that women would be throwing themselves at him once it came time for the after-party.

“Lockhart are you ready?” The sound of his soon-to-be Beta’s voice echoed down the hallway and into his room. Suddenly David Monroe, his best friend since childhood peeked his head in the doorway and sent him a smile. “You look good Romeo; let’s go before we are late for our graduation!”

Aiden rolled his eyes at his friend, grabbed his wallet and phone, and then left the dorm room. David and Aiden walked with their heads held high towards the theater where their graduation would be taking place. As they walked across the campus, they noticed all of the other graduates happily skipping and running toward the theater to say goodbye to the place where they spent their last 4 years.

The theater was set up traditionally, with graduating students in the front on the left, the teachers and faculty in the front on the right, and the guests filling out the back. Navy blue and gold bows and streamers filled the main walkway directing the students to their rightful seats and blue and gold balloons lined the theater. At the front of the room was the stage which housed the faculty and the other important people who were handing out the diplomas.

As he walked deeper into the theater, Aiden passed a group of girls who were giggling and checking him out. He knew he would miss the female attention; but, the time had come for him to find his mate and take his rightful place as Alpha for the New Dawn Pack. Aiden send them a quick wink and walked away to find his seat as they giggled and swooned. The ceremony started with a long speech from the Dean, who ranted on about the future, Aiden couldn’t help but be bored. Finally, he felt a poke on his shoulder and turned to see David looking at him. “Hey Lock, are we going to be heading to Whipperwhill after this?”

Aiden nodded his head in confirmation, as he felt the excitement bubble up in his gut. Whipperwhill was a local bar, a place where they had spent many nights drinking, picking up women, and solving life’s problems. That bar was going to be the only thing he would miss about this place. The memories overwhelmed him when suddenly his nostalgia was broken by the sound of his name being called. Aiden stood to his feet, proudly walked up to the stage, and accepted the degree in Business Administration he earned from the Dean. After he gave the Dean a firm shake and a proud smile, he exited the stage. The walk back to his seat was filled with pride as he checked out the crowd. Suddenly, he happened to look over at a pair of brown eyes who were staring at him in admiration. Once he reached his seat, he looked back in the direction of the eyes but was unable to locate them again.

The ceremony finally came to an end and he jumped to his feet in anticipation and excitement. However, those brown eyes kept enticing Aiden to look for them. There was something about them that appealed to him but he wasn’t sure why, but he knew he had to find her. His frantic search was broken by his mother coming up to him wrapping him in a hug and his father reaching out his hand in pride. “Congratulations Aiden, we are proud of you,” his father said as they shook hands.

“Thanks, Dad,” Aiden replied with a smile.

“You go out and enjoy your night with your friends; we will be having a party for you on Friday. Please be home by then,” his mother whispered as she hugged him again.

Aiden nodded and gave his parents one more hug and then walked over to David. “You ready?” David questioned with a sly grin.

“I was born ready,” Aiden said as he gave the room one final scan for the source of the mysterious brown eyes. However, they were nowhere to be found, Aiden sighed and followed David out of the theater and to his car. The drive to Whipperwhill was full of conversation as the men began to plan what they were going to do once they became named Alpha and Beta. As they were pulling into the parking lot, they looked around at the cars, then at each other, and smiled. The place was packed meaning they would have a ton of girls to flirt with and take home this evening. “Let’s go take in the scenery,” Aiden said as they exited the car. They walked up to the line that was formed at the entrance and gasped at the length of it; they never expected it to be this long. They both groaned in impatience at the amount of time it was going to take them to get in when they heard Aiden’s name being yelled over the crowd. Both men looked up and noticed that one of the bouncers was waving them to the front of the line. Smiling in approval Aiden tapped David on the shoulder and made a motion to follow. They reached the bouncers and high-fived them as the bouncers waved them in. Both men send them a nod of appreciation and a grateful simile then they entered the club.

As the door swung open, a smile formed on the men’s faces; the music was so loud it was vibrating the drinks in the glasses. The lights were dim and the dance floor was covered with flashing red, blue, yellow, and green strobe lights giving the place a rave look. The dance floor was packed with dancers who swayed to the beat and men trying to ogle the women as they danced. Aiden forced his way through the dancers to the bar, waved over the bartender, and quickly ordered them two shots of Tequila and two beers. He grabbed the shots and drinks, tipped the Bartender a five, and handed the drinks to David.

They grabbed their shots, looked at each other, and smiled. “To the future,” they toasted as they clinked their glasses, and licked the salt rim. They quickly downed their shot and threw the lime in their mouth. Once the lime was removed, they shook their head to help the burning sensation as the liquor went down their throat, and then quickly followed it up by downing their beers. David ordered the second round of beers and they found a place at the bar which was perfect for people watching and took a seat.

“Hey Monroe, are you going to stare at that girl all night or go talk to her?” Aiden chuckled at the third time he caught his friend staring across the room at this girl. David chuckled, downed his beer, gave Aiden a two-finger wave, and took off across the bar to the petite black-haired girl who he has been staring at all night. Aiden shook his head, chuckled, and ordered himself another drink. The bar was lively which gave him a lot to watch as he began to sip and watch the action happening around him.

“Is this seat taken?” Aiden looked over at the seat David previously occupied and he noticed a girl standing where his best friend once sat. He looked at her and realized that it was the girl who owned those brown eyes he saw at graduation. This girl was beautiful, she had long blonde hair, which ran down her back and stopped at her hips, she had full lips that he wanted to slam his lips into right this second, and her voice was one of the most melodious sounds he had ever heard.

As he checked her out, he shook his head no, in order to acknowledge she could sit there. The music seemed to have taken a side seat to his wolf screaming MATE in his head. Aiden held out his hand as he looked her over and smiled. “Nice to meet you, my name is Aiden Lockhart, and you are?”

She sent him a sheepish smile and lightly blushed as she extended her hand placing it in his. “Roxanne Messick.” The blush on her cheeks darkened when he took her hand and kissed it giving her a sexy smile. “Care to dance Aiden Lockhart?” She asked with a smirk and a wink.

Aiden stood to his feet, took her hand, and led her toward the dance floor. A slow song was being played by the DJ, so he pulled her close and began to sway with the music. Looking across the dance floor, he noticed that David was in a lip lock with the girl he left to talk to earlier, which reassured Aiden that he could concentrate on his mate. “So what takes you here tonight?” Aiden asked as she buried her head into his chest and swayed with the music.

“My brother graduated tonight, so I had to go sit through that torturous ceremony,” she replied as she rolled her eyes.

“It couldn’t have been that bad,” he replied as he laughed at her crinkled-up facial expression.

“Oh trust me it was, but I know something that would make it better,” she said slyly.

“What’s that?” He asked as he looked into her eyes with curiosity.

Roxanne pulled her head off his chest and began playing with the top button on his shirt. “Well, if my mate would take me out of this Goddess Forsaken club and go spend some quiet time with me, my night would improve immensely,” she said with a smile.

“Your wish is my command,” he said as he grabbed her by the hand and led her towards the exit. They walked back to his car and he politely opened the door for her. Sending her a bow in courtesy he smiled as she sat in the passenger seat. Aiden closed the door and grabbed his phone out of his pocket, and he sent a quick text message to David instructing him to find his way back. Aiden climbed in, started up his car, and they headed back to his dorm room.